Melting Mentality
by ChocoFrosty
Summary: There was a stark reality to their world, the reality that they were both in this hospital for a reason. A reason he knew they both avoided talking about as much as possible. Mental Hospital AU. Oz/Alice. Angst, fluff.


**AU mental hospital prompt supplied by an anonymous on LiveJournal.**

Oz always wondered how he managed to catch her first. In the grayscale hospital full of psychotic patients and stiff nurses, she was there. A ball of sunshine in his shell of a life. When he'd see her down the hallway, prancing around and looking about with curious eyes, she seemed nothing like the others. Amongst the _shouting, sobbing, screaming_ voices tainted by insanity… it was all pale in comparison to her. The brunette would still grin and emit a warm glow, a glow Oz must have been drawn to from the very beginning.

He distinctly remembered the first time he met her.

It was nearing nighttime for the hospital and the nurses were rounding their patients together, ushering them into their rooms and locking everything down with tired sighs. Oz had been walking to his own room when he spotted her. The petite girl had been sitting on the floor of the hallway and leaning against the wall with her legs spread out. Her head was tilted to the floor and long, beautiful strands of brown waves covered her face. Her hands appeared to be near her chin. Puzzled and wondering if she were crying, he had sauntered over to her and crouched to her level.

_"Are you okay?"_ He had asked.

He was hoping that she wasn't going to lash out as so many others did.

Slowly the girl had lifted her head and then—

_"Oh."_ She blinked. _"Did you want some, too?"_

The brunette held a small piece of ham in her hands. Upon speaking, she lifted it toward him.

Really, he almost fell back in surprise had he not been distracted by her face. With a clear complexion of white, rosy cheeks, and sharp amethyst eyes, she was very cute—and serious about her offer, apparently. After talking to her a bit more and sharing her food, Oz realized that he was quite interested in her and even chuckled during their conversation a few times. He didn't remember the last time he laughed.

A nurse came to them then and told them to go to their rooms.

Oz had turned to look at the girl's face once last time. _"What's your name?"_ He cocked his head to the side and smiled, _"I'm Oz."_

The long-haired cutie promptly put a hand on her hip and grinned real wide.

_"I'm Alice."_

Then bit into her ham in triumphant bite.

And that was that. They met again and again, and each time Oz would learn something new about his miniature sun. She shined especially bright when they ate her favorite foods and went to her favorite places in the hospital. There were those occasional times that he would see her blush when he complimented her, and he lived for the stutters and flustered remarks about his stupidity.

_Oz wondered how he caught her first. _

How he of all people had managed to get to be with her. The sun of his strange existence…

However, there was a stark reality to their world, the reality that they were both in this hospital for a reason. A reason he knew they both avoided talking about as much as possible. She didn't know about his type of insanity and he didn't know about hers. _Oh_, but he _wanted_ to. He wanted to know as much as he could about Alice. After all, they only had each other.

Did the sun ever burn out? What darkness did Alice have in her heart?

He'd find out one day. 

~

"Hey! Hey look at this, Oz!"

"What is it?"

"Guh! You have to _come over here!_ Hurry up!"

The bright sunshine trickled down through the leaves of the trees and onto a garden below. Amongst it a slight breeze ran through every now and again to tickle the flowers and brush against long brown hair. The duo had been given the special treat of being able to visit the garden in the back of the hospital. Patients only rarely were given the opportunity to enter. It was too dangerous for them—or their madness, more like. Oz and Alice hadn't had a problem since they met each other, and so the records gave them credit to come outside. Outside was a wonderful place… but what was even more wonderful was seeing Alice interacting with it.

With the light coming down onto her, Alice definitely looked as if she belonged in the open. Free even with the white patients' gown fluttering around her. Oz smiled at seeing her impatient expression and quickly he made his way over to the girl, biting his lip to stop from grinning when she wiggled in place. The brunette then pointed excitedly at a patch of earth and he gazed down at it.

All of the flowers were red.

"I like the color red," Alice explained, crouching down to examine them more closely. She poked one experimentally before cradling the petals in her hands. "The only red things inside are blood… but I still like it." She smiled happily and started to rub a petal with her thumb and forefinger.

Oz came down beside her. "Really?" He asked in amusement. "I think it's pretty too… Maybe you can get a red dress someday?"

"I want a red coat instead!"

"A coat?"

Alice turned her head away and petted the flower, smiling wistfully. "A red and white coat made especially for me…"

Oz's green eyes softened and he bumped his head with hers. "One day, I'll get Alice a coat," He murmured quietly. There was a small pause before she nuzzled her head back, brown and blonde mixing together for a brief moment. Oz felt happy warmth inside and he treasured it, building the memory of the both of them leaning against each other on the ground during a pretty day.

After looking out over the flowers a couple of seconds longer, he felt Alice twitch against him before reaching forward and plucking one from the ground. She held it in front of her.

"Oz?"

"Yes?" The blonde boy blinked curiously at her.

"Are flowers tasty?"

The boy looked startled but even without a response the girl tore off a petal with her teeth and chewed on it. "Uh… Alice…" Oz began uncertainly then stopped himself when she spat it back out.

"It doesn't taste like meat at all!" She yelled, furiously wiping her mouth.

Instantly the blonde burst into uncontrolled laughter. The girl whipped her head to look at him, blushing madly now, and launched at him in a tackle. "S-stupid Oz! Why didn't you speak up sooner? That tasted disgusting!" She growled, throwing gentle punches at his chest. Nurses nearby walked forward to check on them then soon returned to their stations after seeing what was going on.

Oz giggled to himself as he attempted to block her throws. After fending off a misfired punch, Alice's other hand slipped off his torso and she flopped helplessly onto him, her face burying into his white hospital shirt with an _oomph._ The blonde watched as she lifted back to look down at him, violet eyes narrowed in a pout. Alice crawled off and sat down on the grass with some angry mumbling.

"Ahahaha! Sorry, Alice!" He said cheerfully. He noted how cute she looked; her bottom lip jutting out with red cheeks and a blue sky as the background. She huffed. Oz smiled at this and turned his head to gaze out into the flowers as she picked the grass out of her hair. The view was different lying down—he could see more green than red from below. He looked through the stems and watched as they swayed with their flowers until…

The blonde started to struggle to sit up and Alice stiffened in her spot. "What is it?" She asked, all frustration having been drained out of her voice and replaced with interest.

Instead of saying anything, he got to his feet and leaned as far as he could into the patch of red, one arm outstretched in reach of something.

"What? What is it?" Alice, too, seemed to have risen to her feet and tugged at his other arm, all grudges against him forgotten. He glanced back at her face and saw the shine of excitement in her eyes.

The blonde turned back and dug his hand into the red roses in the center of the flowers, letting his fingers slide through the greens until it came into contact with something nestled further in. "Ah! Found it!" He exclaimed brightly. Alice continued to whine behind him and he could feel the vibrations of her bouncing. Oz pulled back and lifted his hand for them to see. Two sets of eyes zeroed in.  
A single white rose.

Oz felt a grin at his lips and he shifted to look at Alice's face.

All her excitement melted away and she looked horrified, her head quickly shaking in small movements and her hands curled into fists at her sides. "Nn-no…!" She whispered and then staggered back, trembling hard.

"Alice?" Oz took a step toward her in alarm. What was going on? Why was she so… scared?

"N... No! No, no, no!" Her voice grew louder in octaves until she was covering her body with her arms. Oz froze in place as he watched her eyes flood with tears, the violet he'd come to enjoy blurring until she closed them and turned her head away. "D-don't! **NOT HERE!**" She shrieked. Immediately guards and nurses were running toward them. Oz could barely hear their cries of instruction to their co-workers, he could only remain in place, eyes locked on Alice's face.

Alice twisted and turned, almost looking as if she were possessed, before her nails dug into her arms, raking down her skin until small droplets of blood dotted her nails. "Stopitstopit!" She screeched, doubling over, "Leave me alone! **I DON'T WANT YOU HERE!**" Tears slipped free from her lashes and ran down her face. A glimmering shine was left in their wake.

The girl choked and ducked her head, mouth opened in a silent scream.

Oz couldn't breathe.

Her voice swiftly regained sound and her scream was piercing—yet still Oz didn't flinch. The few other patients in the garden were removed just as the guards arrived at their side.

_"Why does she always find me?"_ Alice wailed.

Oz could only utter a single question: "Who?"

His question wasn't answered for the hospital staff swiftly dispatched her balance and she fell into their arms. Alice began to howl profanities to an invisible person as they secured her arms behind her back and proceeded to inject her with a shot. When the needle broke her flesh, she sobbed, her hair draped around her body as the largest guard swooped her into their arms.

"She's he—re! Th-the Wi…ll! **THE WILL!**" She cried brokenly.

"… ice… _ALICE!_" Oz finally yelled out, his voice cracking partway through. In that moment she turned her head just enough so that their eyes would meet from her place in another's arms—it was like she just realized he was there. Alice's tear-stricken face crumpled in despair before her eyes rolled back into her head and closed. All struggle left her body and she slumped without a sound. Unconscious now, the team briskly was off with her in a matter of seconds.

Three nurses stayed behind and stood beside him.

"Come now, mister Oz," one said, "We need to get you to your roo-"

"Alice! Alice… Will Alice be okay?"

There was a pause.

"Yes, mister Oz. She will be fine."

No. No one was ever fine in this near-asylum. That was pause enough to tell him that. Oz shuddered, eyes closing tightly as he imagined his friend being poked with needles and wrapped in bandages… Her _screams_ when she'd awaken…

Oz slowly lifted his hand to see the white rose in his palm with a broken stem. He must have split it in half when his hands clenched, when everything began. It glistened sadly in the sunlight. Overthrown with emotion, he tossed it onto the ground and stomped it hard, smashing it into nothing. The nurses didn't stop him.

"_Alice…_"

~

A long two days passed. The third was just beginning.

Oz sat in his room staring out his window, his head leaning against the glass and his eyes nearly closed in a doze. He forgot how the hospital was like without Alice by his side. He felt alone again, isolated and penetrated by the long since forgotten atmosphere of a mental ward. It was almost as if someone had turned the sound onto full blast… he could hear the shouts and crying from down the hallway. He could hear the beeping of machines and the sound of rolling stretchers. It was all coming back. The boy didn't want to hear it again; he didn't want to take part in _anything._

Nurses came to see him more frequently now. One time he caught a glimpse of a clipboard with his records on it that one of them had set down when cleaning his room. The date of Alice's breakdown was marked and there was a type of message beside it. The phrase that burnt into his memory most had to have been _'potentially dangerous threat to the mind capacity.'_ They must've thought seeing her like that would break him too. They were wrong. He just wanted to know if she were okay.

Oz sighed softly to himself and got up from his chair. The blonde looked around his room, at the dull grey and white walls and bed, the machines in the corner, and the many bolts and locks to his door.

"Stupid," he muttered. "I'll just tell them. I've had enough of this." Oz walked over to his bedside and picked up a small remote with a button in the center. He ran his thumb over it a few times. He just wanted to know how she was. He _needed_ to know. How can he survive without the sun? His sun. The boy gritted his teeth and smashed the button in. He then turned around to glare at the door to his room.

A minute later it was opened and a woman walked in. "Mister Oz, are you feeling well? What is it that you need?" She asked. The nurse surveyed the room, almost as if she were expecting it to be rampaged through like so many other rooms in the hospital.

He stared at her, his emerald green eyes sharp in contempt. "I need to go."

"Go where, mister Oz? You belong here."

"I need to go to _her_ room."

The nurse's lips quirked into a pseudo smile and she said, "Her? And who do you mean, mister Oz?"

The boy's hands shook in anger but his voice remained calm. "You know who. _Alice._"

"Alice, dear? I think that-"

"I don't care." He watched her frown. "You _must_ let me see her. I don't mind if she's sleeping. I just need to… I need to know." Oz looked down at the floor for a moment, and then lifted his gaze to meet her own squarely. "Allow me to leave."

The woman scrutinized him and walked forward until she was standing a few steps away. "Why is she so important to you? Everyone is here for a reason. You shouldn't tangle yourself in hers."

_Everyone is here for a reason._ The statement echoed his old musings.

Oz's brows furrowed. "My reason for being here is her now. No medication in this hospital could help me when I needed it." The blonde boy had lifted his hands and was looking down at them. His fingers slowly curled into his palms and he exhaled a trembling breath. Returning his eyes to the nurse he felt a pulse of desperation. "She's the only thing… the only thing that makes me feel normal…" He took a step. "_Please._" The raw desire in his voice could even be heard in his own ears. It killed him to have to beg so deeply, so thoroughly to be able to see the person he cared about most. "I have no one else but her… but _Alice._"

"… I see." The nurse nodded once. "I will arrange for you to meet her."

"Tha… thank you."

He received no reply as the woman turned away and fiddled with her miniature walkie-talkie. Knowing now that he was going to see the girl, Oz suddenly felt the blood in his veins turn to ice. Would Alice fear him now? Would she forgive him? He wasn't even sure what had triggered her reaction—or who "The Will" was. He spent hours replaying the scenes in his head, yet even then he couldn't piece it together.

"It seems that she's available as of right now."

The voice broke him out of his thoughts and Oz dipped his head in acknowledgement, his heart hammering. "I know where her room is," He murmured, and then walked straight past the woman and into the hallway. She didn't follow him. His body moved on its own and he found himself edging closer and closer toward Alice's door. The worst scenarios played in his head, one of them was terrible enough he cringed. However, no scenario was to what it was actually like when he opened her door.

Alice was laying in her bed, sheets pulled up to her torso and her arms crossed over her chest in a way that faintly reminded him of self-protection. Her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful even, like a child in slumber. Oz walked closer to the brunette and held his breath. To his dismay he saw that she wasn't as peaceful as she seemed. Her bottom lip was red, like she bit it hard, and where her hands rested on her arms there were bandages underneath her fingers.

He stopped at her bedside and tentatively reached out to touch her, but stopped himself and brought his hand back after seeing her expression shift. With her eyes still closed, she looked to be in discomfort—was she dreaming? Oz made up his mind and gently rested his hand atop her forehead, stroking her bangs and exposed skin there. She was warm but not terribly so. Glancing over at the clipboard hooked to the top of her bed, he saw that she had been sleeping since she was injected with the shot. The boy sighed, worried, and counted the times her chest rose and fell. A while later the pattern broke and her eyes fluttered open, blurry and tired. She'd awakened?

"Oz?" Alice mumbled sleepily, peering in the direction of his head.

Oz felt a rush of euphoria and knelt down beside her then took one of her hands in his own. "Alice," was all he could say.

Her eyes rounded and she flew into a sitting position to hug him. Her hug was tight and embracive just like she was, and he returned it as best as he could. "Oz…!" She said again, breathless. Suddenly they broke apart when Alice stubbornly leaned back, a blush on her cheeks despite herself. Oz smiled at her, beaming, and the red deepened until she looked away. A silence grew between them until she turned back to look at him, having seemed returned to normal again.

"… Alice," Oz addressed quietly.

Alice swallowed. "What?"

"What happened… back there?"

The girl fidgeted a few times and scratched her head absentmindedly. "I don't-I don't really remember," she grumbled. An obvious lie that was impossible not to see through.

Oz, still kneeling on the ground, placed his arms on her bed and rested his head on top of them. Looking up at her, he whispered, "You're lying."

She flinched.

He waited patiently as she gathered herself, an effort he could see visibly from her tensing shoulders and clouding eyes. "Oz, I… I have…" Alice sucked in a breath and continued, "I have a sickness. Sch-schizophrenia…" The girl clutched her blankets in her hands and she winced. "Those people say that I im-imagine things and I get confused with the… the real world." Oz felt his stomach coil into a knot. Alice mixed reality with hallucinations? "In my head I see her… no one else but me. She—she-"

Oz let his arm snake forward and he touched her hand, it was now holding so tightly onto the blankets that her knuckles were white against her skin. She relaxed just slightly.

"—Looks just like me… but white. Her hair, her skin, her-her _clothes_. She tortures me… she's always there wherever I am…! Al-always taking things away from me. Always watching me." Alice shuddered deep and Oz felt it through her hand. The boy felt a wave of concern wash over his heart, setting his nerves on fire, and he whispered a few sweet nothings in return.

The brunette stared at the wall on the other side of the room, an empty smile on her face. It was something Oz never thought he'd see from her, the one who was forever filled with life in his eyes. "Even in a place I thought would be o-okay... in a place where it was only me and you… She was there, hiding away inside of me… I-I was scared." The end of her sentence broke and unshed tears welled in her eyes.

Oz thought hard to catch up with her thoughts. He sifted through his memories and realization stung him. He thought of the patch of red flowers, probably representing Alice, then thought of the one white rose hidden underneath them. The white rose represented the Will…

"Alice… why is she called the Will?"

Alice hiccupped and wiped furiously at her eyes with her other hand. "Sh-she always ge-t-ts what she wants… she calls herself that…!" Oz stood up and looked down at her in contemplation, then sat on her bed and leaned toward the girl. Alice sniffled noisily and watched him in puzzlement. Oz gently caressed the side of her face with one of his hands and used his thumb on the other to wipe away her tears. Alice's eyes watered further and she sobbed more openly now.

"She won't always get what she wants, Alice," he said. "She won't have me. I'll always be yours. Only yours." He laughed once under his breath, a soft, hollow laugh. "We only ever have each other."

Alice abruptly stopped crying and gazed at him in a way he felt subconscious. She could see through him when no other could. Her red-rimmed eyes hardened and she said, "If it's only me and you… then tell me why _you're_ here in this place." Oz tensed. "Sometimes you look different when you think I'm not seeing it. Yours eyes look strange." She cocked her head to the side. "Empty."

The boy released her face and felt a rush of uneasiness. Of course Alice would notice, she noticed little things about him he thought he was rather good at keeping a secret. Her sunlight would diminish every shadow he had. During his thinking, Alice lifted her sheets and blotted her face with it until her cheeks were dry, then she lifted them back and crawled out of them until she was sitting on her bed beside him. The brunette hesitantly moved closer until her proximity actually… unnerved him.

"You never say what's wrong with you... If you would just tell me when you're sad, I could do something for you." She flushed and squirmed in her place, then leaned forward and rested against him in an attempt at comfort. Oz felt warmth fill his cheeks and he looked down at the bed.

"Ah… Alice?" He closed his eyes, trying his best to block out the memories he had locked away. "I'm in here because… the hospital says that I'm not stable." In his head he saw the shine of a knife in his hand and a room ravaged to nothingness. _'I'll destroy it all! Then I'll be happy! Then I can smile again!'_ "I… I don't really remember what goes on during those times. They say I'm dangerous." Oz exhaled and calmed his body. "It began happening since I turned fifteen. That's why I'm here."

A silence came over the room until the bed creaked and he turned his head to meet violet eyes directly beside him. Alice hovered uncertainly near his face before her eyes closed and she pressed her lips to his in one smooth movement. She was warm and soft and only lightly touching him. When thought process returned, the blonde slowly responded to the kiss, his heart thudding hard in his chest as he sorted himself out. A second later the girl sat back. "Did that help?"

"I-I, uh, well- _what?_"

"Nurse Sharon told me that the next time you're really sad one day, I should try this on you—a kiss is what she called it, I think."

The notorious Nurse Sharon? The one that loved the young girls and fed them romance novels?

_Oh. _

Alice smirked at his flustered expression. "Do you want another one?"

"Ehh?"

Despite being an airhead and not understanding a lot of things in the world, Alice sure did get him hard this time. She never saw him this way too often—was she taking advantage of it? Alice crawled half-way onto his lap, pouting now from his outburst. "What? You didn't like it? You should be grateful!"

"Gr-grateful?"

Alice nodded and her long hair rustled around her small frame. Oz nearly went cross-eyed from how close she was now; he could even feel her cool breath ghosting on his face. "Well?" Alice asked, rubbing herself against him in barely contained excitement. It was obvious now she liked her control on things—she _always_ liked to be the one running the show. "Answer now, Oz! Or else!"

"A-ahn… sure?"

"Say it like you mean it!"

Oz almost laughed at the situation. Who ever thought he'd have to ask for a kiss? A second later the boy felt his insides crack. A kiss? A kiss. A. **KISS**. Alice just _kissed_ him. His only friend just kissed him—and was demanding him to ask for another! The blonde boy looked down at her and she glared impatiently back; it seemed the more he waited the more she crawled onto him, looking ready to push him down onto her bed if she had to. Oz felt his face burn and he swallowed hastily.

"Uh. Uh, Alice, I think that-"

The girl reared up and poked him hard. "What's wrong? You like me, don't you?"

Oz hesitated. "Yes, but I don't think you understand…" _what this means_. Did she? Did Alice like him _that way_? He quickly analyzed their relationship, his heart stuttering in his chest.

Alice sat down completely on his lap and sighed in exasperation. "I know exactly what I'm doing, idiot! I'm not stupid." The girl leaned forward and nuzzled her head against him, the hairs on the top of her head tickling his jaw line. "You said it yourself, didn't you? We only have each other." Although he couldn't see her face, he could tell from her voice that she was blushing. "Be-besides! All of those books Nurse Sharon teach me from say that this happens after a girl and a boy become friends."

Oz smiled a little, "Then Alice likes me?"

The girl twitched then looked up at him. Her face was pink but she replied anyway, "Y-yes."

The one confirmation was enough to fill Oz with a joy he didn't know would even come from this. He petted her on the head and Alice mumbled a few curses under her breath, her face getting darker in color. She shifted her gaze away and didn't say anything else for a moment. "Do you like _me_?"

"Of course," Oz chuckled quietly.

He caught the smile on her face before it morphed into a more demanding expression. "Ask for a kiss then! Since you… you like me!" She stammered.

The blonde boy paused to prepare himself, however, that was lost when an idea struck him instead. He raised his arms and wrapped them around her. "H-uh?" She squeaked. Alice's face rivaled her favorite red flowers when she turned her gaze to look up at him with wide eyes. "Wh-what are you doin—_mmph!_" Oz pressed his mouth to hers and she stiffened against him, her back erect as she took in what was happening. Her eyes met his and he felt her stuttering breath against him. Oz blinked encouragingly. Alice's amethyst eyes then warmed and she settled closer into his touch, eyes closing.

As they kissed, Oz reflected on their relationship again. Although both were demented in a way, when together they were nothing but normal children again. Just a boy. Just a girl. The moon and the sun. A lock and a key. They were normal and happy with each other, and that's all that ever really mattered.

Alice broke the kiss and whispered under her breath, "Don't leave me… okay…?"

Oz coddled her even more, brushing one of his hands through the hair he'd come to love. She leaned into the touch automatically. "I'll never leave you, Alice." He smiled. "Not for anyone."

The brunette flung her arms around his back and they toppled backward onto the bed with Alice sprawled out on top of him. Both of them laughed a little and a comfortable silence kept them close together. The hospital sounds blurred and their eyes slowly began to close. Alice had curled herself close to him and Oz had moved into a protective position around her. Sleep claimed them in gentle lulls.

Each had a smile on their face.

_I love you, Alice, my most precious Alice._


End file.
